Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he gave approval for the re-boxing of intervention beef at Ulster Cold Stores for the Goodman Group; what information he has on the re-boxing of beef at Ulster Cold Stores; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. HanleyThe re-boxing of intervention beef at the Ulster Cold Stores was approved by the Intervention Board executive agency. Approved re-boxing at that location commenced in November 1986 and continues up to the present. All approved re-boxing up to 5 August 1990 was supervised by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland and since then by the Livestock Marketing Commission for Northern Ireland as agents of the agency.
The procedural rules relating to the Department of Agriculture Northern Ireland/Livestock Marketing Commission supervision of re-packing/reboxing operations require the following conditions to be met:
the beef must remain in the frozen state throughout the re-packing;the beef must not be mixed or re-packed with nonintervention beef;only boxes of the same cut can be cut and re-boxed together; mixing of cuts is not allowed;replacement of boxes must be marked with the net weight; cut name; number of cuts; and the original number;the correct tare of new boxes and any wrap must be obtained and the net weight of the contents recorded.